Other Classroom Activities

• Allusions--There are allusions in the Mark Twain video to other shows or situations. The video has numerous take-offs on the Wizard of Oz. For example, as soon as Angie pops up in the fantasy world she says "We're not in Kansas any more." When she says good-bye, the scene is reminiscent of Dorothy leaving her friends in Oz. Angie follows the golden key which is similar to Dorothy following the yellow brick road.

  Have the students watch the video a second time to spot allusions. There are comparisons to the Wizard of Oz, but also there are gimmicks from the Groucho Marx show, You Bet Your Life, such as a chicken dropping down. Choosing "door number one" is from Let's Make a Deal.

  Have students write an essay on why we have allusions. Allusions of this type add satire, humor, and extra meaning to a dramatic production. Also, satire and irony can be discussed as other tools of humor.

• Alliteration--Alliteration is having sequential syllables starting with the same sound. In a way it is like onomatopoeia, which also has sound repetitions, but in alliteration the sound repetition is just for the style or rhythm of the words. There is alliteration all over our language. Some examples:

  leapin' lizards

  jumpin' Jehosephat

  French fries

  bet your bottom dollar

  big bucks

  worrywart

  down and dirty

  mealy mouthed

  wild and wooly

  wishy washy

  shipshape

  day dreamer

  back biting

  willy nilly

• Tongue twister contest--Tongue twisters are an example of alliteration. Try having a tongue twister contest. The student who can say the tongue twister the most number of times in a given time without a mistake wins. A time limit has to be set to discourage kids from talking too slowly. For contest material there are some of the old favorites such as:

  Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.

  How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?

  She sells seashells down by the seashore.

  This is a candidate for the most difficult twister in English:
  The sixth sick sheikh's sixth sheep's sick.

• Colloquialisms--Colloquialisms are the common, informal speech of individuals. They are local slang, figures of speech and special pronunciations. An example is, "You done good." Mark Twain mastered the colloquialism. He wrote Huckleberry Finn totally in Missouri dialect.

  Watch the video a second time and find colloquialisms.

  Read portions of Tom Sawyer or Huckleberry Finn and pick out colloquialisms.

  Write down some of the colloquialisms used by teens today.

• Symbolism--There are symbols in the video. For example, Angie receives a key--the key to freedom. The Librarian can be considered a symbol of everything we want a librarian to be--witty, humorous, insightful, etc. The librarian is like Mark Twain.

• "I search" paper--This is a type of research paper designed to maximize student creativity. "I search" papers are especially appropriate for gifted and talented students. To initiate an "I search" session, give students a name or topic. Then have them find a specified number of facts on that topic. Elementary students can find 3 ideas--older students 5 or more. Have the students write about and explain the ideas. For the most creative results, "I search" topics should be abstract concepts such as freedom, love, justice, friendship, etc. The students can find any creative ideas that fit under the broad frame-work of those concepts. For more creativity, have the students illustrate their ideas. Have them put the ideas into graphic designs.

• Essays on Mark Twain and his writings--For research papers, use any of the following suggestions:

  Missouri

  Places Mark Twain lived

  Hartford, Connecticut

  Trips Mark Twain took

  The Mississippi River

  Tom Sawyer

  Riverboats

  Huckleberry Finn

  Mark Twain's children

  King Arthur's Court

  Mark Twain's wife

  Mark Twain's travel books

  Virginia City, Nevada

  Mark Twain's humor

  For some longer-term projects consider the following:

  Mark Twain's books were often autobiographical. Have your students do a paper on the relationship between Mark Twain's life and his books. For background, use the material on Mark Twain's works included in this guide.

  Have your students do a biography of Mark Twain using at least three sources.

  Have students develop a map of the major places in Mark Twain's life. Try developing a large-scale map on a wall of your room.

• Essays and discussion from the video--Talk to your students about any of the following topics or have them write essays.

  What did the boys see in the graveyard? What did they learn about life from seeing this?

  Describe the courtroom scene from the video and describe the lesson Tom learned.

  The title of the cemetery scene was "Tragedy in the Graveyard." Describe the image this title conveys.

  Tom had to decide to break an oath when he told the truth in the courtroom. Why was this the right thing to do?

  If you were Mark Twain, what would you ask Angie?

  What would you like to know about Mark Twain?

  There was a curtain call at the end of the video. What was the purpose of this curtain call? [It was to show that the play was a fantasy--it wasn't real.]

  The video used developmental images. These are pictures created in the mind by words or simple stage props. Describe some developmental images from the video? Why are we able to visualize settings from just a few stage props?

  The library in the video was like a time machine. Is this realistic? Can a library be a time machine? Can literature transport us in our imaginations to other places and times?

• Writer's block--There is a joke in the video in which a block appears and Angie says "What's that?" Mark Twain answers that it is writer's block and if you just ignore it, it will go away. Talk about writer's block with your students. Ask them if they have ever experienced writer's block when they have had writing assignments. How did they manage to overcome that block?

• Mark Twain's style--Mark Twain's style was to write in his own language and from his own experience. Many of his works had an element of autobiography and used the colloquialisms of the place and time. Have students write a story about something that happened to them. Have them use colloquialisms and slang. For example, they can write a "rap" song or imitate the speech of a "valley girl."